It can be run with two tight ends, one tight end and one wide receiver, or two wide receivers. Coach Bill Walsh used the wishbone because of his replacement quarterback's familiarity with a similar formation in college. The offense was an immediate success, and Texas won the national championship in 1969 running a wishbone / option system. This formation is often referred to as a "two tight end" set. In Madden 22, the . It is often referred to as the "bastard child of the I and the Wing-T". Bring a back or receiver into the backfield via formation call or motion, and have the QB read that second unblocked defender. If you want to see the Run n Shoot in its most original form today, you want to watch Army and Navy! The second difference is the blocking technique. This is the base defense of some teams. Both guards, both tackles, a tight end, and a receiver line up on the line of scrimmage. Spread Offense: spreads the defense horizontally, making it easier to isolate man coverage, as well as find and throw to the holes in the zone. Arizona Cardinals. Many leagues require that at least four players be on each side of the kicker at the time of a kick; prior to this, an onside kick formation often had all ten of the other players on one side of the kicker. The seventh defensive back is often an extra safety, and this defense is used in extreme passing situations (such as to defend against a Hail Mary pass). With this series, you have the foundational movements of the classic triple option: A dive, a QB keep, and a pitch phase. Their materials may be seen on their respective websites. That way if they went in motion, defenses couldnt tell if they were going behind the QB to be a pitch back, or in front of the QB to run a jet sweep. The classic wishbone formation and the backfield set that gives it its name. [31][32] It grew in importance as the 1940s progressed, as it was more effective versus the T than the other standard defense of the time, the 62. In this formation, the linemen often line up directly in front of the offensive line, while the linebackers "shoot the gaps". By the late 2010s, the pistol had become a favored formation of teams running the run-pass option (RPO) offense, such as the 2019 Baltimore Ravens with quarterback Lamar Jackson. As such, its use has declined since 2009, particularly in the NFL. Attack. Such a pistol-wishbone fusion allows an offense to run an old-school option offense out of a base pistol set. The Nickel defense originated as an innovation of Philadelphia Eagles defensive coach Jerry Williams in 1960 as a measure to defend star tight end Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears. When the QB keeps the ball, they move on to the next unblocked defender. 5/5 Stars by Anonymous. Here we talk about the Wishbone, its implementation, defenses (the invention of the 5-2 that led to the 3-4), power vs. option vs. counters, single motion, shifts, unbalanced. This formation is most often used on obvious passing downs in the NFL and college football though some teams use it more often, such as Texas Tech University and the New England Patriots in their record-setting 2007 season. It consists of three defensive linemen, four linebackers, and four defensive backs (two safeties, two corners). The dive back is going to charge hard forward while the QB opens, facing the right, reading the play-side DE. It's similar to the triple option philosophy of the wishbone offense that dominated college football in 1970s and '80s with eight national championships combined by Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. Theyre zone read systems that rely heavily on triple options. There are no restrictions on the arrangement of defensive players, and, as such, the number of defensive players on the line of scrimmage varies by formation. Well, almost. This will allow your players to adapt to and learn the system [10], The double wing, as a formation, is widely acknowledged to have been invented by Glenn "Pop" Warner in 1912. It is important that your weakside end can squeeze down the veer releasing . The Split-T was an offense operating out of a T backfield, where the line splits were very wide, usually around three feet. In this formation, one back (the fullback) lines up behind the quarterback. Fielding Yost and Pop Warner referred to the old T Formation as the Regular Formation.. 3 players in the secondary all cover deep thirds. When legendary coach George Halas' Chicago Bears used the T-formation to defeat the Washington Redskins by a score of 730 in the 1940 NFL championship game, it marked the end of the single wing at nearly all levels of play, as teams, over the course of the 1940s, moved to formations with the quarterback "under center" like the T.[1] George Halas is credited with perfecting the T formation. Also a split-end can be used instead of just two tight-ends. Whether you're seeing the Wishbone, Spread, I-Formation or Flex Bone Option, this is the perfect front to stop those offenses. interior line and LBs for dive, DE for qb and OLB for pitch man or switch if its double dive. It is generally a balanced formation, and there are backs on both sides of the tailback, offering better pass protection. RED FORMATION Although the modern Wing-T system is a multi-formation complex, I strongly recommend that youth coaches stick with one formation, known universally as Red (when the TE and WB are aligned to the Right) and Blue (when the TE and WB align Left). What we are seeing is an application of option and triple option football to a more diverse running and passing game. This style was popularized by a coach named Tony Demeo when he coached at various sub-FBS/I-A programs. Georgia Tech Option Cut-ups. The two backs line up either in a line (hence the name of the formation since it looks like a letter I) or with the fullback "offset" to either side. April 2021 Table of Contents. If youre thinking of the military academies or that classic under-center triple option, you could easily argue that these programs are not doing that, and you would be correct. The Emory & Henry formation was revived in the 1990s by Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who coined its commonly used name when he explained that he'd seen Emory and Henry College run it in the 1950s. The pitch back is the third read. Shurmur created the defense in part to take advantage of the pass rush abilities of Kevin Greene, a defensive end sized linebacker. An unusual formation, the swinging gate consists of a center all alone with the quarterback lined up behind him in shotgun. As the offense evolved, the QB keep component began to add the addition of a read, where the QB would either keep the ball, or pitch it to the trailing halfback. [33] As late as the early 1950s, the Cleveland Browns were using a 5-3 as their base defense.[34][35]. The formation was originally designed as a brute-force running formation, since it had 7 players to one side of the center and only 2 on the other. Two "3" techniques (DT, lined up outside of the guards) and two "8" techniques (DE, lined up outside of end man on line of scrimmage). Zone principles teach a more balanced stance, and using hands and leverage to steer defenders in a particular direction. This formation sacrifices some size (of linemen) for speed (of linebackers), but coaches choosing to utilize this formation as their base defense typically choose larger players in the front 7 to make up for the shortage of size. Often, these ball transfers are in the form of a hand-off (also called a mesh), or a pitch/lateral. Therefore, the deployment and tactics of defensive players are bound only by the imagination of the play designer and the line of scrimmage. One style is like the one just described: Read the DE, then the next defender out for hand off, QB run, or pass. The shotgun can distribute its 3 other backs and 2 ends any number of ways, but most commonly employs one running back, lined up next to the QB, one tight end and three wide receivers. It was subsequently adopted by many other college programs in the 1970s, including Alabama and Oklahoma, who also won national titles with variations of the offense. It utilizes four wide receivers and no tight ends. On each side, two players must line up outside the numbers and two players must be lined up between the numbers and the hashmarks. It has been used out of the I-formation (and its variants, including the Power-I and Maryland I) and the wishbone formation. This defense (combined with poor weather conditions) did slow the Patriot's passing game, but proved ineffective against the run, and the Patriots won the game. Developed at Muskegon High School (MI), pronounced Muh-ski-gun, head coach Tony Annesse made his own adaptations to Paul Johnsons offense, leading Muskegon to multiple state titles. Not surprisingly the T Formation was developed in the mid 1880s by the father of American football, Walter Camp at Yale. Run out of the shotgun, with WRs swinging in, this formation accentuates the talents of a new era of dual-threat QBs. This article is going to further define what a triple option is, and some of the more common styles or families of executing them. Shotgun. The wildcat is primarily a running formation in which an athletic player (usually a running back or a receiver who runs well) takes the place of the team's usual quarterback in a shotgun formation while the quarterback lines up wide as a flanker or is replaced by another player. The wishbone is a common formation for the triple option offense in which the quarterback decides after the snap whether to hand the ball to the fullback for a run up the middle, pitch the ball to a running back on the outside, or keep the ball and run it himself. There are several different variations of the 43 defense such as the 4-3 under defense, 4-3 over defense, 4-3 umbrella defense, 4-3 swim defense, and 4-3 slide defense. This was the primary defense in football, at all levels, during the single wing era (the 1930s), combining enough passing defense to handle the passing attacks of the day along with the ability to handle the power running games of the times. Work hard practicing the pitch between the Quarterback and the Running Back, so that you will safely . The ball carrier makes this decision by reading a specific defender and the actions they make. double wing 38 sweep hb pass Or Bob Davie at New Mexico? Atlanta Falcons This was once one of the most common formations used at all levels of football, though it has been superseded over the past decade or so by formations that put the quarterback in the shotgun formation. With the backfield lining up in the conventional T formation behind the center (quarterback, two halfbacks and fullback), the resulting configuration is "unbalanced" due to the asymmetry of the placement of the linemen. Sometimes this is an outside linebacker. What we do not talk about is any such thing called the "inverted Wishbone, triangles, Maryland Is, Power Is, and other bastardizations" of the most balanced . This is also a balanced formation (even threats on each side of the field). They may choose to attempt to block the punt, or drop back to block for the receiver. The single wing has recently had a renaissance of sorts with high schools; since it is so rare, its sheer novelty can make it successful. "The I" consists of two backs lined up behind the quarterback, with the back closest to the quarterback being called the fullback and the back behind the fullback called the running back, tailback, or I-back. With adjustments in blocking and running we can create situations that are unfavorable to the defense at all times. As the extra defensive back in the nickel formation is called the nickel, two nickels gives you a dime, hence the name of the formation. With run-pass options, you have an almost limitless combination of triple option read styles. The quarterback lines up about five yards behind the center, in order to allow a better view of the defense and more time to get a pass off. Think of your typical zone read: The O-line blocks inside or outside zone. It is occasionally referred to as the prevent defense because of its use in preventing desperation plays. Paul Johnsons flexbone evolved differently than DeBerrys at Air Force. Again, even though this is a quick-hitting play, QBs and receivers must do their post-snap jobs. In the NFL, this formation was the basis of the run and shoot offense that was popular in the 1980s with teams such as the Detroit Lions and the Houston Oilers but has since fallen out of favor as a primary offensive philosophy. However, the flexbone is considered more "flex"-ible than the wishbone because, since the wingbacks line up on the line of scrimmage, more run / pass options and variations are possible. The outside veer is pretty similar to the Split-T option play. [29] On passing downs, the Mike (middle linebacker) is often responsible to cover any running backs, the Sam (strong-side linebacker) covers the Tight End, and the Will (weak-side linebacker) either covers a back or blitzes in an attempt to sack the quarterback. The fullback behind the QB would then lead block around the end, with the trailing halfback following the fullback. More extreme defensive formations have been used when a coach feels that his team is at a particular disadvantage due to the opponent's offensive tactics or poor personnel match-ups. Today, Air Force still runs DeBerrys system, but they have evolved greatly into a multiple offense, running triple option plays from just about every formation imaginable. It has a balance of passing, which is predominantly play-action in nature. Some teams (like the Indianapolis Colts under Tony Dungy) use this formation with both tight ends on the line and use two flankers. Remember Oregon with Chip Kelly? This causes the defensive line to also spread out, creating gaps the offense can exploit.[3]. YouthFootballOnline.com. Designate a larger, more bruising back to execute all the dives to the left and right, while mirroring the two halfbacks, that way the defense could not determine which side of the formation the offense was more likely to run to. A third type of veer play is the midline. It is often used as a pass formation, because of the extra wide receivers. This creates a line that is weighted toward the right of the center. Today, the wishbone / option offense is still used by some high school and smaller college teams, but it is much less common in major college football, where teams tend to employ more pass-oriented attacks. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Hillcrest High School in the state of Idaho. [30] It was called the "Umbrella" defense because of the four defensive backs, whose crescent alignment resembled an opened umbrella, and the tactic of allowing the defensive ends to fall back into pass coverage, converting the defense, in Owen's language, from a 614 into a 416. Against two-receiver offensive sets, this formation is effective against the run and the pass. Ken Hatfield ran it at Clemson and Rice after. While Army, Navy, Air . In the Diamond Formation the Quarterback will be lined up 4 yards from the Center in Shotgun formation. Today, Tony Annesse is the head coach at Ferris State University (MI), and he has since adapted his offense to more modern concepts that are popular in college football, like RPOs, which this article will get to shortly. The Chicago Bears of the mid-1980s famously used defensive tackle William "The Refrigerator" Perry as a fullback in this formation. The formation has also been used as a basis for trick plays such as a backwards pass to a player near the sideline followed by forward pass down the field. Under center is favorable when you want to hide the ball more and get your RB's coming downhill in the run game. At the same time, youre seeing what looks like these running plays actually turning into passing plays. Formations: I-Formation Pro Wishbone Wing-T Ace . These formations lack a flanker, and use the maximum 3 running backs rather than the standard 2. The second is by converting the ends of a wide tackle six to safeties (the defensive ends of a wide tackle six already have pass defense responsibilities). This formation typically has no wide receivers, and often employs 3 tight ends and 2 running backs, or alternately 2 tight ends and 3 running backs. The "spread" allows teams to use speed and athleticism to exploit gaps . Even in his last year at Rice (2005) he was in it a good amount of time. It is essentially a shotgun variation, with the quarterback lined up closer than in standard shotgun (normally 3 to 4 yards behind center), and a running back lined up behind, rather than next to, the QB (normally at 3 to 4 yards behind quarterback). The LB's have hook zones. If we look at option plays with this kind of description, notice how there are no rules or limits as to how the ball is distributed. The dive back plunges forward, while the QB opens, facing to the right, reading the backside DE. Joe Gibbs, twice head coach of the Washington Redskins, devised an ace variation that used a setback, or "flexed" tight end known as an H-back. If you were in shot gun, you were a mad scientist. The WR1 lines up to the left and the WR2 lines up to the right. Run-Pass Options are what this article will focus on, since they emulate the triple option philosophy most closely. Each player on the line has a two gap responsibility. The Shotgun formation, originally called the Lonesome Quarterback, was an invention by Pop Ivy while coaching in the CFL, although Red Hickey, coach of the San Francisco 49ers is credited with bringing it to the NFL in 1960 and renaming it the Shotgun. Still, this list of formations covers enough of the basics that almost every formation can be considered a variant of the ones listed below. Some variations use an extra strong safety instead of an extra cornerback. Darrell K. Royal's Wishbone offense relied on star fullback . The latter rule was instituted to prevent players from generating the speed expected from a 15-yard runup before the kick, thus potentially reducing the speed and impact of collisions down the field. Wishbone has 2 tight-ends, 5 linemen, 1 fullback, and 2 half backs. This formation is intended for one purpose: to allow the quarterback to safely down the ball without losing control, preventing the defense from recovering and advancing the ball to the end zone. Most field goals feature nine offensive linemen (seven on the line, both ends in the tight end position, with two extra slightly off the line of scrimmage), a place holder who kneels 7 or 8 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and a kicker. The Wishbone, Wing-T and Veer offenses of yesteryear were the golden age of the fullback. There is also a variation of this defense called the 3-4 under defense. Defender. The Flexbone offense will utilize three running backs in the backfield at all times. Schenkel, Chris, NBC Broadcast, 1956 NFL Championship. shoot 18 keep vs. 5-2 13 shoot 34 lead vs. 4-4 14 shoot max deep pass 15 playbook for coaches ^^^ yz[kv^uhww jvt ^pszvu. The wishbone is a running formation. One is by removing a linebacker from the standard 43 to add the extra defensive back. Be as simple or complex as you want with simple tags.Motions and shifts. However, as with any hugely successful formation or philosophy, as teams learned how to defend against it, it became much less successful. The T Formation is said to be the oldest football formation. Now, leave the next defender outside the DE unblocked. At Oregon, with Chip Kelly, their zone read offense relied on spread-heavy sets, creating lots of natural running lanes, and maintaining a constant four-vertical passing threat to a defense. The flexbone formation is a variation of the wishbone formation. Two Linebackers are 3 yards off the ball behind the DT's. Another variation of the "balanced T" formation is the so-called "unbalanced T" formation. Clark Shaughnessy designed the formation from the T Formation in 1949 after acquiring halfback Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. "[16], The formation differs in two significant ways from the single wing. Most say option football began with the Split-T offense that was very popular in the 1940s and 50s. This may tell the defense you are running the ball, but it also allows for a lot of blockers. . In order to create a triple option, the person making the decision must now read two defenders. [42] A later evolution of the original 5-2 is the Oklahoma 52, which ultimately became the professional 3-4 when the defensive ends of the original 5-2 were substituted over time for the outside linebackers of the 34. Into the 80's, Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry was looking for a way to make his Wishbone offense more "flexible." One of the major setbacks of the wishbone is that there are only two players, the two . The T formation, wishbone, and flexbone are the most popular football formations that use three . The New Orleans Saints. Currently 5/5 Stars. That said, it was regarded as a good formation for trap plays. Here are three diagrams of I-Formation, strong side right (that is, with the tight end lining up to the right, typical for a right-handed quarterback). In 2008, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey began using the Pistol prominently in their offense, and are the first NFL team to do so. The original Eagle defense was a 52 arrangement, with five defensive linemen and two linebackers. It contained two tight ends, and 4 backs. It puts "eight men in the box" to stop the run, but it sacrifices deep coverage against the pass, especially if the opponent's receivers are better athletes than the cornerbacks. The 335 removes a lineman to the nickelback. Barry Switzer's wishbone offense, Bill McCartney's I-Bone, and Tom Osborne's I-Option are the types of offenses that made the option quarterbacks households names. The shotgun offense became a staple of many college football offenses beginning in the 1990s. You see teams running a steady dose and combination of inside zone, outside zone, power, and counter. The United States Air Force Academy (aka Air Force), the United States Naval Academy (Navy) and Georgia Tech are among the few NCAA FBS teams that commonly use the wishbone and its variations. Schaughnessy moved Hirsch to the flanker position behind the right end. It consists of three running backs: a fullback lined up directly behind the quarterback, and the two halfbacks split behind the fullback. The pistol formation adds the dimension of a running game with the halfback being in a singleback position. To summarize a triple option, it is any play that features a designed run, with the intention of making a post-snap decision as to who gets the ball between three players. Darrell Royal, a folksy former all-American player who became one of college football's most acclaimed and innovative coaches, leading the University of Texas Longhorns to three . Also, the formation often featured an unbalanced line where the center (that is, the player who snapped the ball) was not strictly in the center of the line, but close to the weakside. Because it is generally more difficult to establish a rushing attack using only the shotgun, most NFL teams save the shotgun for obvious passing situations such as 3rd and long or when they are losing and must try to score quickly. The wide receiver can capitalize on interception opportunities in the expected high-risk offensive play. With the Diamond (also called the Inverted Wishbone), the quarterback is in shotgun with a tailback . http://yout. Prior to the snap, only the lone lineman assumed a three-point stance near the offensive center while the 6 linebackers "roved" up and down the line of scrimmage, attempting to confuse the quarterback as to whether they would rush the passer, drop into coverage, or play the run. The 44 defense consists of four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and three defensive backs (one safety, two corners). Also called the "umbrella" defense or "3-deep". The wishbone offense, . tight wishbone 18 sweep vs. 4-4 split 10 tight wishbone 34 cross lead vs. 6-2 11 tight wishbone fake 42 wedge y pop pass 12 playbook for coaches ^^^ yz[kv^uhww jvt ^pszvu. The second part of the play call is the motion, if any. 7) The key to this offense is to know what the defense is doing and then attack it with the understanding of what will work against it. All else is "variations. Some attribute the modern origins of the "Wildcat" to Bill Snyder's Kansas State (whose sports teams are known as the "Wildcats") offense of the late 90s and early 2000s, which featured a lot of zone read runs by the quarterback. Formations with many defensive backs positioned far from the line of scrimmage are susceptible to running plays and short passes. Formation: Wishbone Plays out of the Wishbone Formation. All players other than the kicker may now line up no more than 1 yard behind the restraining line. Double Wing Offense: uses two wingbacks to set up power runs and misdirection plays. A noticeable difference from the other teams lined up in the double-wing formation was the lack of line splits across the front.